Elements of Statistics I
Summer 2007
MATH 130.02 (3 credits), MTWTF, 1:00PM-2:35PM, Wickersham 218

Prerequisites:

MPT 130 or any 100-level mathematics course.

Instructor:

Dr. Buchanan
Office: Wickersham 216-1, Phone: 872-3659, FAX: 871-2320
Office Hours: 10:00AM-11:00AM (MTuWThF), or by appointment
Email: Robert.Buchanan@millersville.edu
Course URL: http://banach.millersville.edu/~bob/math130

Textbook:

Just the Essentials of Elementary Statistics, 9th edition, Robert Johnson and Patricia Kuby, Brooks/Cole -- Thomson Learning, Pacific Grove, CA, USA, 2005, ISBN: 0-534-99945-X.

Objectives:

MATH 130 is an introductory probability and statistics course requiring no prior background in these topics. Students will need some facility with elementary algebra and a calculator (a TI-83 or TI-84 is ideal). Throughout this course and semester the instructor plans:

Course Contents:
  1. Introduction to Statistics (Chap. 1)
  2. Descriptive Statistics (Chap. 2)
  3. Probability (Chap. 4)
  4. Probability Distributions for Discrete Random Variables (Chap. 5)
  5. Normal Random Variables (Chap. 6)
  6. Sample Distributions and the Central Limit Theorem (Chap. 7)
  7. Statistical Inferences (Chap. 8)
  8. Inferences involving one Population (Chap. 9)
  9. Inferences involving two Populations (Chap. 10)

Schedule:
July 2007
M Tu W Th F
16: 1.1-1.4 17: 2.1, 2.2 18: 2.3, 2.4 19: 2.6, 2.7 20: 2.8
23: Test 1 24: 4.1, 4.2 25: 4.3, 4.4 26: 4.5, 4.6 27: App. A
30: 5.1-5.3 31: 5.4, 5.5      

August 2007
M Tu W Th F
    1: 6.1-6.3 2: 6.4, 6.5 3: Review
6: Test 2 7: 7.2, 7.3 8: 8.2, 8.3 9: 8.4, 8.5 10: 9.1
13: 9.2 14: 10.3 15: 10.4 16: Review 17: Exam

Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. If you must be absent from class on the day an assignment is due, you must complete and hand in the assignment prior to the absence. If you know you will be absent on the day of a test, you must notify me before the time the test is scheduled in order to schedule a make-up test. Students who miss a test should provide a valid excuse, otherwise you will not be allowed to make up the test. No final examination exemptions.

Homework:

Students are expected to do their homework and participate in class. Students should expect to spend a minimum of three hours outside of class on homework and review for every hour spent in class. Homework problems from the textbook will be assigned nearly every class meeting. You should bring your work on the assigned problems to class each day we meet and whenever you come to ask questions during office hours. Periodically throughout the summer session I will ask that you hand in a small number of these problems for grading. Having the exercises worked out on loose leaf paper will make it easier to collect, grade, and organize your work. Homework will not be accepted late without a valid excuse. Students may work together and/or discuss any homework problems not assigned for a grade. The work you submit for graded homework exercises must represent your individual effort. Students may not collaborate on the homework problems that will be graded. Students who work together on graded homework assignments, but submit their work under the pretense that it is their individual effort, will be considered to be in violation of the Code of Academic Honesty. For more information, please see

Tests:

There will be two in-class tests and a comprehensive final examination. The tests are tentatively scheduled for

The final examination is scheduled for Friday, August 17, 2007.

Grades:

Course grade will be calculated as follows.

Tests 60%
Exam 30%
Homework 10%

Tests and the final examination will be graded individually on a 100-point scale. Graded homework assignments may consist of a variable number of problems worth ten points each. As an example of the calculation of the numerical course grade, suppose a student's two test grades were 87 and 70 (out of a maximum of 100 points on each test), the student's final examination grade was 71 (again, out of a maximum of 100). Suppose three homework assignment were collected and the student's grades were $32/40$, $38/50$, and $50/60$. This hypothetical student's numerical course grade would be calculated according to the formula

\begin{eqnarray*} \lefteqn{% \frac{87 + 70}{2} \cdot 0.60 + 71 \cdot 0.30 + \fra... ...50/60}{3} \cdot 10} \\ & = & 47.1 + 21.3 + 8.0 \\ & = & 76.4 \end{eqnarray*}

I keep a record of students' test, homework, and exam scores. Students should also keep a record of graded assignments, tests, and other materials. The course letter grades will be calculated as follows. I will not ``curve'' course grades.

90-92 A$-$ 93-100 A    
80-82 B$-$ 83-86 B 87-89 B$+$
70-72 C$-$ 73-76 C 77-79 C$+$
60-62 D$-$ 63-66 D 67-69 D$+$
    0-59 F    

Course Repeat Policy

An undergraduate student may not take an undergraduate course of record more than three times. A course of record is defined as a course in which a student receives a grade of A, B, C, D, (including $+$ and $-$) F, U, Z or W. The academic department offering a course may drop a student from a course if the student attempts to take a course more than three times.1

Inclement Weather Policy:

If we should miss a class day due to a school closing because of weather, any activities planned for that missed day will take place the next time the class meets. For example, if a test is scheduled for a day that class is canceled on account of snow, the test will be given the next time the class meets.


Last updated: